Thank you for pointing out these facts and clarifying any misinformation to our readers — it’s greatly appreciated!

Best,
Belinda

Your overall point “you should wear sun screen daily and reapply often” is good, but there are quite a few errors in your article, and additional things worth mentioning.

I wrote a similar article yesterday http://www.miravueskinclinic.com/articles/147-sun-screen-daily

1. UV rays don’t contain ROS (Oxygen free radicals) they *create* them when they come into contact with the skin.

2. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules due to containing extra electrons or having less electrons meaning they are highly charged and will react with lot’s of other molecules in your skin. They’re not electron particles themselves.

3. UVA rays penetrate your skin and damage collagen directly (It’s largely UVB that creates ROS)

4. You need to reapply every 2-3 hours

5. People with dark skin (Fitzpatrick IV +) can get sun burned too

6. Getting sunburn once in two years triples your chance of developing melanoma.

7. Higher SPF DOES mean you’re better protected, generally due to higher levels of zinc oxide or titanium dioxide (which scatter and reflect UV) or an organic compound such as octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC) or oxybenzone (which absorb UV radiation)

8. The only SURE way to prevent UV radiation exposure is by using physical barriers such as clothing, hats, sunglasses etc..

9. In general people do not apply sun screen thickly enough, the aim is to create a barrier – not to rub the cream into the skin.

Sorry to call you out like this but really if you’re going to be writing about skin care you should take much greater care.

(there’s a whole list of medical sources at the bottom of my article should you need references in the future)